For on , define and let be the time Laplace transform of . The transformed solution with spatial decay is
Only one characteristic root has negative real part, so one scalar boundary derivative fixes the remaining homogeneous mode. The Bromwich inversion formula supplies an integral representation involving only the initial and boundary data. For general linear differential equations on a half-line, the number and form of the necessary boundary data depend on the decaying spatial roots; Fokas and Wang study the corresponding boundary maps for linear dispersive equations.
For the homogeneous linear differential equation , a characteristic root is a root of a polynomial . A simple root supplies an exponential solution ; a root of multiplicity supplies for . The sign of the real part of determines spatial growth or decay.
Complex exponential of two orthogonal Brownian motions Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For orthogonal continuous local martingales that are standard Brownian motions, the real part and imaginary part are continuous local martingales. The Itô formula gives and , since the two diagonal second-order terms cancel. Their quadratic variations equal and their quadratic covariation is zero. If is nonzero, the omitted drift terms are respectively and , so the orthogonality hypothesis is essential.
For the bounded Dirichlet Poisson integral in a quadrant, the Wirtinger derivative is
This follows by differentiating the Schwarz integral formula composed with , remembering that for real boundary data is half the derivative of a holomorphic function whose real part is . For complex boundary data, apply the construction to the real and imaginary parts separately and use linearity. If the data and their derivatives decay sufficiently, integration by parts gives
The endpoint terms cancel exactly when . Interior denominators do not vanish because .
For real , the complex exponential function has . Since the trigonometric factor lies on the unit circle,
Thus the real part of the exponent controls its modulus, while the imaginary part controls its direction on the complex plane.
The weak topology on a normed vector space is , the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood base at is given by finitely many inequalities , with . In the complex case, separation uses real parts of bounded linear functionals.
Mazur theorem states that the weak closure of a convex set equals its closure in the norm topology. The weak topology is coarser than the norm topology, so the norm closure is contained in the weak closure. Conversely, if is outside the norm closure of a convex set , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives and with . The corresponding weak topology neighbourhood of misses , so is outside its weak closure. This proves Mazur theorem, including the empty-set case. In particular, if converges weakly to , then is in the weak closure of every tail and therefore in the norm closure of its convex hull. Choosing a finite convex combination of the th tail within of proves the usual Mazur lemma formulation as well.
The weak-star topology on the continuous dual space is : convergence means pointwise convergence on , and a neighbourhood base prescribes finitely many evaluation inequalities. The Banach-Alaoglu theorem states that the closed unit ball of is compact in this weak-star topology, even if is incomplete. Embed this closed unit ball into
where or . Each factor is compact, so is compact by the Tychonoff theorem. Inside , the equations and define a closed set. Every such point defines a linear functional satisfying , hence belongs to the closed unit ball of . Thus this image is closed in . The product topology on it is exactly the weak-star topology, proving Banach-Alaoglu theorem. Evaluations also separate its points, so the weak-star topology is Hausdorff.
For the canonical embedding into the bidual , we have . Restricting all evaluations at therefore gives exactly . Thus the induced subspace topology is the weak topology on .
Now identify with . Let be a bounded convex set, write for its norm closure in , and let be its weak-star topology closure in . Boundedness places in a multiple of the closed unit ball of , so is compact by Banach-Alaoglu theorem. The preceding subspace topology identification and Mazur theorem give
If is a weakly compact set, its image in the Hausdorff weak-star topology is compact and therefore closed. It contains , so . Conversely, if , the displayed identity gives , and its compactness is precisely weak compactness in . Hence . This argument also covers .
For a bounded linear operator , its Banach-space adjoint is , defined by . Evaluation at any fixed is thus evaluation at after applying . Each is continuous in the relevant weak-star topology, proving that is weak-star continuous. Applying the same result to shows that is weak-star continuous. Direct evaluation gives
Use for the closed unit ball; using the open ball gives the same norm closure of . Goldstine theorem says that is weak-star dense in . Put . It is compact and closed in the weak-star topology by Banach-Alaoglu theorem and the established continuity. It contains . Conversely, Goldstine theorem gives, for every , a net from converging weak-star to ; its image converges weak-star to . Consequently
Apply the preceding bounded convex set criterion in , and then scale the closed unit ball. We obtain the bidual characterization of weakly compact operators:
The canonical embedding into the bidual on the right specifies exactly which copy of is intended.
The quadratic formula gives
so both roots of a polynomial have real part . Writing , the complex exponential function satisfies , and hence its modulus is . Therefore
Intersecting this condition with the allowed parameter interval gives the answer for either root:
The endpoint is included: the repeated root of a polynomial is , whose exponential has modulus .
Write the system as , with . Its characteristic polynomial is , so its eigenvalues are and . An eigenvector for is . Thus is a complex solution, and its real part and imaginary part give real solutions:
Their initial vectors are and , with determinant . Consequently they are linearly independent and span the two-dimensional solution space.
The general real solution is
Under the first-order smoothing approximation, neglect the fluctuating product in the resistive induction equation while retaining its contribution to the mean electromotive force. Since the test field is constant and the velocity is a solenoidal vector field, the fluctuation equation is
Let , , and . For each Fourier mode, the diffusion equation becomes a scalar linear relaxation equation applied to each vector component. Take its long-time periodic response, with . For the first mode,
while for the second,
Thus the complex response coefficients are
They give
An arbitrary initial fluctuation also contains a homogeneous diffusive transient. In the forced modes this is ; more general initial modes also diffuse. The displayed harmonic expression is the periodic particular solution after those transients, not the most general solution at finite time. The constants and the factors of are unchanged by taking the final real part.
To justify the helicity relation, write with real vectors. Solenoidality gives . Their cross product is parallel to , and
This is the helicity vector of a solenoidal Fourier mode. In these conventions the spatially averaged kinetic helicity density of is ; the sign is set by the specified cross-product order.
For equal wavevectors, spatial averaging of two real harmonic fields gives
Time averaging gives another factor , because and the mixed temporal average is zero. Consequently each diagonal mode contributes to the mean-field electromotive force
Distinct modes with have no spatially averaged cross term. The printed condition also permits the opposite-wavevector case. The possible cross terms still cancel after time averaging: the out-of-phase response coefficients are and , while integration by parts gives for the real spatial fields. This handles all the distinct wavevectors allowed by the question, assuming the usual periodic-cell or whole-space spatial average.
Thus the alpha tensor is
Both averaging factors matter. The alpha tensor is real and symmetric, and this contribution vanishes when the mode kinetic helicity densities vanish.
For the two perpendicular wavevectors and common , put . Then
Mean-field dynamo action is possible when and sufficiently long mean-field wavelengths are allowed. The missing entry does not prevent an alpha-squared dynamo. Indeed a slowly varying mean magnetic field transverse to , with dependence , obeys
The two growth rates are , so the larger is positive if . This supplies a brief constructive reason; scale separation also requires . A spatially uniform test field itself has zero curl of its mean-field electromotive force and does not grow. If , or if boundary conditions exclude all unstable long wavelengths, this particular alpha effect does not yield growth. The conclusion concerns the stated first-order smoothing approximation; no uncomputed turbulent-diffusion correction is assumed.